[rpd] inputs on IPv4 Inter-RIR policy proposals - AFRINIC needs this policy now!

[Owen DeLong]

> On Jul 1, 2019, at 18:14 , Ronald F. Guilmette <rfg at tristatelogic.com> wrote:
> 
> In message <320D6CAE-8CC9-4012-9732-865A68FDBF4B at delong.com>, 
> Owen DeLong <owen at delong.com> wrote:
> 
>> There's really nothing special about legacy resources beyond the
>> ability to get some services from RIRs without paying.
> 
> Are you sure about that Owen?

Yes.

> About 11 years ago, a couple of ARIN /16s decided to go walkabout, and
> my belief is that at that time, ARIN had a dickens of a time getting
> them back, in no small part because of their "legacy" status, which
> arguably put them into a sort of legal limbo land, beyond ARIN's
> ability to do much about them.
> 
>    http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2008/04/a_case_of_network_identity_the_1.html

Yes… The only difference between that situation and a non-legacy block subjected to the same
treatment would be that the fee process insures ARIN a more reliable provenance on the actual
organization to whom the block is registered. Admittedly, the consequences of this fact are
perhaps more than one might expect from the mere difference of free vs. fee, but the payment of
fees allows ARIN to know that the organization in question is still in existence and that the billing
contact information is still valid.

> If such a situation were to arise today, say with respect to some Afrinic
> legacy block, my assumption is that all of the same problematic issues
> would arise yet again.

Very likely. 

> Hypothetically speaking, of course.

Again, the difference in question is fee vs. not. Just more consequences than one might think
from that subtle difference.

Owen